Another Birthday Come and Gone

This year is the year I officially need reading glasses. The ophthalmologist says so. All text is blurry at this point, and my eyes quickly grow exhausted working at the computer. Reading books or even a dinner receipt is out of the question. I've ordered a pair of prescription glasses with anti-glare coatings and such, but they won't be here until next week. In the meantime, I'm using an over-the-counter pair from the bookstore. They aren't of high quality but still help a great deal. I can even read books while wearing them. My eyelashes may be too long, however, as they smudge the lenses faster than I can keep up with wiping them clean. Hopefully, the prescription glasses will fit better, and that will sort out the smudging problem. Otherwise, I may have to start trimming my eyelashes back a little. Do they make eyelash trimmers? I doubt it.

Suggested reading...

Deep-Sea Surprise: The Forest of the Weird, For ocean explorers with deep-diving toys, the joy of discovery is still attainable right here on Planet Earth. Over the summer, the crew of Okeanos Explorer encountered this seascape around Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean... (Scientific American)

10-Year-Old Girl Is Detained By Border Patrol After Emergency Surgery, Immigrant advocates are protesting the Border Patrol's apprehension this week of a 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy in the country illegally, after she was operated on at a Texas hospital. Federal immigration officers intercepted the child as she and an adult cousin, who is a U.S. citizen, were in an ambulance being transferred between two hospitals so that she could receive emergency gallbladder surgery. (NPR)

Russian journalists publish massive investigation into St. Petersburg troll factory's U.S. operations, The Internet Research Agency, Russia’s infamous “troll farm,” reportedly devoted up to a third of its entire staff to meddling in U.S. politics during the 2016 presidential election. A source also told RBC that the Internet Research Agency spent almost $80,000 over two years, hiring roughly 100 local American activists to stage about 40 rallies in different cities across the United States. The activists were hired over the Internet, communicating in English, without their knowledge that they were accepting money or organizing support from a Russian organization. The main activity in the troll factory’s U.S. desk was to incite racial animosity (playing both sides of the issue), and promoting the secession of Texas, objections to illegal immigration, and gun rights. (Meduza)